Showdown: The Begining of the End
by Bluehog
Summary: This is the story behind the fan-game, Showdown.rnThe story tells what happened after Sonic Adventure 2rn(Written before Sonic Heros)
1. Prolouge

It has been five long years since Eggman was last seen. After the incident on board the space colony Ark and the death of Shadow the Hedgehog, Eggman packed up and left the planet forever.

During the next five years Sonic the Hedgehog and his friends cleaned up much of Eggman's machines. Now in the present day, this job is about to get a whole lot harder.


	2. The Mysterious Fire

It was late at night in the village of Knothole, a small, treetop village in the heart of the Great Forest. In one of the tree houses the great Sonic the hedgehog slept. Sonic is a blue hedgehog who loved to run at the speed of sound whenever he could. Nearby Sonic's friend, Miles Prower was sitting up in bed. This small orange fox's two tails twitched nervously. Tails, to use his nickname, got out of bed and went to the window by Sonic's bed. While Sonic continued to snore Tails looked out the window Al he saw was the dark forest in the moonlight. All was quiet and normal.

Tails started to turn away from the window when something caught is eye. Tails squinted into the darkness. He saw a small black package. Tails shook Sonic awake and yelled, "Sonic! Wake Up!"

Sonic sat up slowly, shook his head, and said, "Huh Tails, what's up?"

"There is something strange outside!" Tails exclaimed.

Sonic yawned sleepily, "Its probably nothing Ta…"

At that moment there was an explosion outside. Sonic, now fully awake, jumped out of bed and ran out the door. The normally dark night was ablaze with fire! The dwelling on the next tree was ablaze! A high-pitched scream tore across the night. Someone was in there. Sonic quickly realized who was in there. Amy Rose was rapped inside her house and couldn't escape. The bridges to her house had been blown away. Another bomb exploded on the forest floor.

Sonic's tree started to sway. The explosion had destroyed part of the base of the tree Sonic's house was on. Sonic looked around, and there was only one place to go. Sonic took a running start and leapt onto Amy's tree house as his own toppled to the ground with an earth shattering roar. Sonic looked down toward the place where his tree had fallen. The hundreds of feet below him seemed carnivorous. Sonic turned back to Amy's house. He then ran into Amy's burning house. Part of the ceiling had collapsed! Now a fiery wall of wood had trapped Amy in the back room. "Help Sonic!" Amy cried.

Sonic span into action. He ran right towards the burning woodpile. Then he rolled up into a spiky, whirling ball. The quills on Sonic's back cut right through the wood. He came out the other side and uncurled. Cowering in the corner was a pink hedgehog with short quills and a red dress. Amy had her hands over her face and was crying in fear.

The heat was intense as Sonic made his way towards Amy. Another explosion went off and Amy's tree house started to shake. Amy looked up; her eye's full of tears, as Sonic reached her. Sonic grabbed Amy and pulled her towards the door. Out on Amy's balcony the situation looked hopeless. The doorway collapsed behind Sonic and Amy. Sonic looked around desperately for anything that could save Amy, but he looked in vain. Then a voice from above them called, "Sonic, I'll take Amy." Sonic looked up and saw Tails.

Tails flew in using his two Tails like a helicopter. Tails grabbed Amy and flew off as Amy's tree collapsed and started to fall. Sonic jumped off as the tree he was on fell down towards the forest floor. From Tails's arms Amy cried in a desperate tone, "Sonicccc…"

Right then there was an almighty boom and a flash of lightning streaked across the sky. Rain soon followed and a short time the great fire was out.


	3. City Ruins

Tails and Amy landed on the radio tree house in Knothole. The wet rain made them cold and Tails's wet fur made it hard for him to fly. Inside the tree house they found Sonic. Amy, soaking wet, hugged Sonic, "Sonic how did you survive?"

Sonic pulled himself free from Amy's wet grip, "I jumped but that is unimportant now. I was listening to the news on the radio when it suddenly went silent, just static. Could you look at it Tails?"

Tails, who was trying his fur off, said, "I don't see how it could be broken, I fixed it last night. We should probably go to Neo City. I'll go get the Cyclone!"

Tails left the room and flew to the hanger. Inside Tails chook his fur dry again and turned on the lights. In the middle of the hanger stood Tail's plane, the Cyclone. The Cyclone is a blue jet plane. About seven feet long, the Cyclone has only one seat and an open cockpit. Tails climbed into the cockpit and warmed up the engine. The giant hanger doors opened, as the Cyclone got ready to launch. The engine roared as Tails blasted out of the hanger.

Tails flew the Cyclone by the radio tree house. As he flew by Sonic and Amy jumped onto the wing. They held on tight as Tails flew the Cyclone out of the top of the forest and headed towards Neo City.

After Flying for about an hour Sonic saw the city on the horizon. "Cya later guys," Sonic yelled as he jumped of the Cyclone, landed on the ground, and ran off using his super fast feet. "Oh Sonic," Amy sighed as she watched him disappear into the distance.

The landscape was whizzing past as Sonic ran at speeds of 100 miles per hour. In no time flat Sonic had reached Neo City. However the city wasn't a city anymore. Neo City had been completely destroyed. Sonic looked around as it continued to rain. Smoke was coming from the near-collapse buildings, the only ones left standing. The rest of the buildings were rubble.

Sonic slowly strolled down the debris filled street, looking everywhere. There was no one left alive. In fact it was all Sonic could do to not burst into tears at the sight that he saw. Amongst all the rubble of the buildings and vehicles there were the bodies of those who had died. The whole town was now a grave of bodies. There were more then just dead people; Neo City had been a home to all kinds of residents. The bodies of dogs, foxes, and hedgehogs also littered the area; several had been Sonic's friends. Sonic walked on as it continued to rain.

As Sonic was getting ready to leave he spotted someone he recognized. Sonic switched from walking to running as he zipped over to a purple, female hedgehog. Sonic couldn't hold his tears back anymore as he reached the body of Sonia, his sister. There was a loud thud as the cyclone landed nearby and Tails and Amy got off. Amy ran over to Sonic and spotted Sonia. "Oh Sonic," Amy said while crying.

The grief on Sonic's face was too unbearable to Tails, who turned away. Sonic held Sonia and looked into her lifeless face, once so full of life and energy. Tears poured down Sonic's face as he held his sister's body close to him. As the rain continued to fall and lightning flashed, Sonic closed his eyes and asked, "Why?" For about a minute Sonic sat, unmoving, as he held his sister.

All of a sudden Sonic's eye's snapped open. He looked straight at Sonia. He put his hand on her wrist; Sonic felt something moving, a pulse! Sonic looked up and shouted, "She's alive!" Sonic stood up and carefully picked up his sister. There was and ear-splitting sonic boom as Sonic took off towards the station square hospital at the speed of sound. Tails and Amy stood where there, dripping wet, in the rain. Both of them had a smile on their face.


	4. THe Cyclone VS the Giant

A bolt of lightning split the air and destroyed one of the few buildings left. The thunder that followed shook the earth. Tails looked up into the rain and said, "You know Amy, this isn't any normal storm," Tails looked at Amy and continued, "The only way a storm can get this bad is if there is and imbalance of power in the super emeralds."

Amy looked at Tails and then headed towards the cyclone while saying, "Come on Tails, let's get to the floating island."

Tails got into the cockpit when he saw something massive in the distance and darkness. "Amy wait a second," Tails said to Amy. Amy got under some shelter to get out of the rain as Tails continued, "I'm going to go check out something." The Cyclone sped up as it took off into the sky and headed towards the strange object.

As Tails approached his target it opened fire on the Cyclone. Dodging the bullets the Cyclones front cannon returned fire. The firing spread became more severe. Tails came around for another run. This time he activated the Cyclone's lock on beam. As the beam struck the giant figure, the Cyclone's computer programmed the Laser Missiles to attack. Tails turned off the beam and fired a full spread of the Lock On Laser Missiles. As each one hit the target a colossal explosion followed each hit.

Tails took the Cyclone high above the city, but not too high to see what was going on below. The explosion cleared, Tails saw nothing but smoke. Then lighting flashed and he saw the creature in the distance. It turned to face the cyclone. A giant beam lashed out from it right at the Cyclone. Tails pulled on the control stick with all his might, and the cyclone just dodged that beam. The beam blew up a whole mountain behind Tails. Tails was to the side of the creature now as it started to rise. Another flash of lightning revealed he outline of the creature. Tails's mouth fell open, this wasn't possible. Metal Sonic was never thirty feet high! The Cyclone continued to hover as Tails watch the giant, no, Mammoth Metal Sonic fly into the clouds and was gone. Tails hovered there for a minute and then flew down to Amy, a look of terror on his face.

Amy noticed the expression on Tails's face, "Tails?" Tails finally came to his senses and said, "I'll tell you later Amy, we need to get to the Floating Island, Fast!" Amy got on the Cyclone and then it started to fly up and towards the ocean. Just as it was leaving the shoreline, Amy spotted a blue streak approaching on the ground. Amy cried, "Tails! Sonic's coming!"

Sonic ran into the city using his phenomenal speed. He ran onto a toppled building and used its slant to launch himself into the air. He soared into the air and landed on the retreating Cyclone's wing. "Hey guys," Sonic said with his usual carefree attitude, "The doctor says Sonia will live."

"That's great Sonic, we're going to the Floating Island to try to fix this storm, and I saw something you will not believe," Tails said, raising the cyclone above the storm and told Sonic about the giant he saw.


	5. The Floating Island and the Guardian

The cyclone flew towards the center of the ocean, not that any of them could see it. The giant storm clouds blocked all view of the ocean below. As they approached the center of the ocean, hundreds and hundreds of feet in the air, an island appeared on the horizon above the clouds. While most would react with shock upon finding a giant island defying gravity and floating in the air, Sonic and his friends had no problem with it. They knew that the island floated due to the power of the Master Emerald, the emerald controller. The only that they worried about was if the emerald's guardian would give them a warm welcome, or give them his instinctive reaction to uninvited guests. Only one-way to find out, Sonic sighed.

They approached the island and its full size became real to them, it had been several years since they visited last. The Floating Island was the size of Iceland. It was huge and used to rest on the surface of the ocean, that was before the ancient echidna race's forceful mistake. The catastrophe they caused made them think. They decided to place one of their race to guard the emerald which they had tried to steal, the original guardian had been trapped. The new guardian used the Master Emerald's power to raise the whole island into the air. Up there it would never be disturbed again. The guardian remained on the island to ensure he Emerald's safety. For thousands of years the island remained unknown.

Tails landed the Cyclone on the shore, or was it cliff, of Floating Island. The current guardian didn't like machinery on his island. For Amy this was the first time on the island. The lush, green forest just beyond the islands beach was short and bright. Birds flew in the air and the whole northern edge of the island opened out to them. While the storm clouds crashed below, the island was calm, sunny, and bright. "Oh, they're so beautiful!" Amy cried and she ran up to a patch of forest flowers. Amy couldn't help but continuously admire the forest as they walked on. For Sonic and Tails it was a different story. The first time they had been there Eggman had burned this forest to a crisp. That was many years ago, and the forest had recovered impressively. They came to a river, a river surrounding the small Angel Island. Amy begged to cross and see the scenery on the island in an island. Sonic shook his head and said, "Sorry Amy, but we need to go south."

Amy's enthusiasm drained quickly when they got to the southern edge of the forest. Before them lay the desert Sandopolis. Amy had to ask, "We have to cross that!?"

Sonic said, "No, we need to follow the edge of the forest. We will then come to the hidden palace and the Shrine of the Master Emerald. But first we will have to pass through the abandoned city of Echidnaopolis. "Why is it abandoned?" Amy asked.

As they walked on Sonic told the story, Tails and Amy listening intently, "The Floating Island used to be home to the whole of the Echidna race. But when Eggman first attacked, the guardian sealed them all into another dimension to keep them safe. However, with the threat of Eggman still around he will not bring them back. The trouble for him is that he can't leave the emerald to stop Eggman, so for now he waits and waits."

Sonic stopped talking as they entered Echidnaopolis. The city took up a third of the Floating Island. Tall buildings and stores were all over the place. There was no one in sight though. Echidnaopolis was a ghost town. Tails spoke up, "Hey guys, I heard something in that ally!"

"I didn't hear anything but your fox ears are better then my hedgehog ones. Lets check it out." Sonic said. Sonic went first down the dark ally. On his toes, Sonic was approaching the first corner. Sonic held a hand up in a gesture to have Tails and Amy stop and keep silent. Sonic stepped beyond the corner. Simultaneously something white whipped out. If it wasn't for Sonic's quick and reflexive instincts he would have been hit in the head, even more likely he would have been knocked out. Sonic leapt backwards. The thing stopped. Now that it was still they could see what it was. A fist with two sharp spikes on one end, and in a white glove. Attached to the fist was a strong, red arm. They looked further along and now emerged from behind the wall… "Knuckles!" Tails exclaimed. "Hey Knucklehead, trying to take my head off?" Sonic asked.

"Guys, sorry about that. Although I don't know how much trouble losing your head would be Sonic, you don't use it anyways." Knuckles chuckled, "but I'm glad you are here. There is some force at work here that can disrupt the super emeralds. I've been looking for what the trouble is." Knuckles stepped into the light. Knuckles was around three feet high, the same height as Sonic. He wore steel topped shoes; there was literally a strip of metal on top of his shoes. He had sharp quills but unlike Sonic's his pointed straight down and only from the back of his head. On the back of both hands were two very sharp spikes. He was red except for a white V shaped past on his chest. He continued in his gruff voice, "If I had three more guys here I know the problem would be easy to solve. Unfortunately…"

Knuckles was cut off abruptly by a shout from the room of the building they were on, "Hey, here come to more." A yellow hover board with a blue stripe down the middle came over the edge of the roof. They couldn't see who was on it for it was high above their heads. The voice continued, "This will make two more for the number." The hover board drifted down and they saw the two who were riding it. Both were green hedgehogs the same size as Sonic. Sonic recognized them instantly as his brothers Ashura and Manic. "Guys!" Sonic shouted.

Ashura jumped of the board, "Never will I ride that thing again!" Ashura looked right at Knuckles. Ashura looked just like Sonic but he had black all over his face and the rest of him was green. Manic asked, "What, all I did was take it low over the cliffs." He jumped off the board and put it under his arm. Like Ashura he was green. He however had no black on his face. Instead he had several long, green, straight hairs sticking up from his forehead. He also wore an orange vest.

Knuckles, who was getting really impatient, said, "ALRIGHT ALREADY! LET'S JUST GET GOING!" He walked off towards the shrine. Following closely Sonic said to Knuckles, "Can't get any redder, can you?" The others all laughed and walked as Knuckles chased Sonic all the way to the shrine.


	6. Tikal

Knuckles was getting a little tired when he finally caught up with Sonic, he was exhausted. Knuckles was built for strength, not high speed, long distance running. Sonic only stopped when he had reached the Shrine of the Master Emerald. The shrine was in a small clearing in a forest. The Master Emerald shone brilliantly, a huge, green gem. It was about four feet high, and 4 feet wide. Sonic looked around it though, and saw something that was not quite right. Around the master emerald were seven gray, gem shaped stones. Sonic gasped, those where supposed to be just as brilliant as the Master Emerald, instead the Super Emeralds were dull and dark. Knuckles finally arrived, panting, and said, "Sonic, some huge disturbance must of happened, nothing else, save for the Master Emerald, can cause the Super Emeralds to shut off."

A new voice spoke, mystic and old, "That is true, and I know which power was disturbed." Sonic looked around and said with puzzlement, "I know that voice, I heard it a long time ago." While Sonic was looking around he spotted Tails and the others approaching. "There has been a large surge of the ring energy on the planet," The strange voice continued. It suddenly dawned on Sonic who was talking; he smiled and said softly, "Tikal."

Between Sonic and the emerald a shape was forming, fading in. It took the shape of a tan colored Echidna. After she appeared she remained transparent. Knuckles said with a crocked smile, "Tikal, I'm not surprised you're here. You're the original of our race to be a guardian." Tikal's transparent head nodded, "I have been dead for thousands of years, but the trouble from the Emerald calls me like it was yesterday."

Knuckles himself nodded, "If you weren't dead Tikal the easy way to restore the emeralds would be open. But as such, we are one short." Tails ventured a question, "What can be done then?" Knuckles was deep in thought. Finally he ventured to speak, "For now there is only one option, we must hope that the Master Emerald can restore the super emeralds." "Its our only chance!" Tikal exclaimed. "Everyone get back, away from all the emeralds," Knuckles said in a very stern voice. Knuckles walked up to the Master Emerald, the ghost of Tikal standing on the opposite side. Knuckles held his hands up, facing the emerald.

Knuckles eye's closed as his hands stayed up, as if he were lifting something. Eyes still closed he began to speak, his voice both soft and loud, gentle and stern, a sort of mystic quality was in it. "Since the dawn of time the balance has stayed. For eons there has been no disturbance. The eternal balance has ended. The energy of the rings now dominates the emeralds. The end of everything will follow. The balance must be restored, all life off this island depends on it." Knuckles eyes opened and the emerald started pulsing. Green light intensified and dimmed at an increasing pace. "The emeralds of power are now inactive. Eternity rides on the balance. Now you, the emerald controller, must use your power to restore the emeralds." Then in a gentle voice he said, "Go."

The great pulsing action speeded into a constant shine. A bright green wave of light started from the bottom and proceeded up the outside of the emerald. It continued up the emerald until it collected on the top. The sky darkened. Then from the whole of the top of the emerald came a great beam of green light. The beam sot up into the sky far above them. About a mile above their heads the beam splintered into seven rays. Those rays came down and stuck each of the stone gray Super Emeralds. The effect to one far away was a giant, green water fountain. Sonic and Knuckles looked around at the super emeralds hopefully. There was a pulse of light from each of them. Knuckles face broke into a hopeful smile.

The super emerald he was looking at had a faint red color appearing. Then the color abruptly vanished. Even under the full power of the Master Emerald the super emeralds would not reactivate. A vein on Knuckles's head throbbed as he frowned. "It ain't working," he growled. In frustration he punch the Master Emerald. Beam still shooting, the emerald rotated. The beam lowered and struck the ghost of Tikal. Somehow or another, it hit! Tikal screamed.

Everyone looked in shock; a ghost was filled with pain! The force of the beam threw Tikal off the shrine. The beam still followed. Tikal's ghost was lying on the ground, face down. Knuckles finally pulled himself together and shouted to the Master Emerald in a desperate tone, "Emerald! STOP!" The beam faded out, but a bright glow still surrounded Tikal. Sonic ran over to Tikal and Amy gasped. The glow started to fade. As the glow faded Tikal became less transparent. When the glow faded, no one could not see through her at all. Tikal lifted her head, "That was a very painful experience." Then she gave a start as she realized something.

"What in the world!? I can feel!" Tikal exclaimed. She stood up slowly, and on her knees was some dirt. Looking very surprised she stared at the many eyes of everyone except Knuckles. Knuckles was looking at the Master Emerald. "Hmm," he said, "there have been stories of the Master Emeralds full power being able to restore life. But I've never seen it happen before. And it is not recommended to do it." "I can tell you that," Tikal said, picking herself up. She swayed on her feet. A hand clutched her forehead, "The pain for the one being restored is intense, usually the pain will kill them again. I think I'll live though." She collapsed back onto the ground, dizzy, but alive. Tails helped her up. "Come on Tikal, let's get you somewhere you can rest." They traveled back to the city, all except Knuckles. Sonic called back to him, "Hey Knucklehead, you coming?"

Knuckles seated himself on the Master Emerald, "Go on without me, I got a job to do." Sonic shrugged and ran to catch up with the others. They went into one of the houses in the city, and laid Tikal in a bed. Amy stayed with her while Sonic and the others went to what had to be the dinning room. They sat around the big table in there. Ashura spoke first, "The question is, what are we going to do now? We can't restore those super emeralds until Sonia gets here. **If** she gets here. We are still one short."

Tails eyes lit up, "Wait a second, we do have enough people." Three pairs of eyes stared at him. "Tikal, she can help us." Tails finished. Sonic looked thoughtful for a minute, then he spoke, "The question is, is Tikal strong enough to help. Either way I'm going to talk to Knuckles." Sonic left the room and ran off towards the shrine.

In the evening Sonic hadn't returned. Tikal had woke once and nearly fell over. Now she was back in bedm awake and dizzily in pain. The effects of being restored by the emerald were being made real to her. Amy stayed with Tikal and helped her. Tails had brought the Cyclone next to house and had been working on it most of the day. Ashura and Manic had gotten a tennis game going using the sofa as a net. Both of them wonder if Sonia and Tikal would be ok.

Night fell on the floating island with storms below raging. The doors and windows in the house were left open when Tails turned out the lights. A cool breeze was flowing through the house when he went to sleep. Tikal was asleep again and Amy had fallen asleep in a chair nearby. Ashura and Manic quit there game and curled up on the couch. Tails climbed into a bed in another room and slept all night.

As Tails was going out he was wondering what that large object had been. It had looked like Metal Sonic, one of Eggman's robots. A thought slowly occurred to him as he fell asleep, Eggman must be back.


	7. The Quest Begins

Fire was everywhere! As he, Tails, put one out, two more started. Tails was getting frantic. Where was Sonic? Tails flew up and the flames got taller in front of him. Then in the distance he saw something threw the flames. Then the flames vanished. Tails discovered that he couldn't move his hands or feet. He had been shackled to a wall. In the distance he saw Giant Metal Sonic's destroying a city. Something stepped between him and the city. Eggman was there, laughing at him. Tails saw Knuckles the laughing at him too. Nearby his friends were trapped in the Master Emerald. The ground shook.

Tails bolted upright in bed. Breathing quickly he saw that it was light out. It had all been a dream. Tails breathed a sigh of relief. Then the ground shook again. Tails jumped out of bed. That had been no dream. Then a sound of something tall falling happened right outside his window. Tails jumped out his window. Tails saw two fallen trees and one figure.

Tikal was standing out there facing a third tree. Tikal jumped and and floated there. Then she turned upside down. She hit the ground hard with her hand. The ground shook and the third tree fell over. Then she turned towards Tails. Tails could see that all the pain was gone, she had survived. "Its amazing what a good nights sleep can do isn't it?" a voice asked from just behind Tails. Tails turned and saw Sonic.

"I am just getting myself into shape, sorry if I woke you Tails." Tikal said. Manic and Ashura walked out of the house, rubbing the sleep out of their eyes. Amy walked out after them. Sonic eyed up the situation quickly and said, "Come on guys, let's get to the shrine." With those words Sonic speed away. The others followed as quickly as they could. They took a small detour to get breakfast from an orchard. They arrived at the shrine; Sonic and Knuckles were waiting there. Once they all were present Knuckles spoke.

"Now we have 7 here, the chance of restoring the Super Emeralds is almost insured. Everyone get on top of a Super Emerald. We will be transported to the area of a Chaos Emerald. You must find and obtain the Chaos Emerald. When you have it you will be transported back here. Now get ready."

Everyone stood on one of the super emeralds, watching as Knuckles spoke to the Master Emerald in the ancient tongue of his people. Only Tikal understood what he said. When he finished the Master Emerald glowed a bright green. A beam came out of it and went to each of the super emeralds. Then the super emeralds shot a beam out of the top of each emerald, through Sonic and the others. Each of the super emeralds' beams went up a hundred feet into the air, then they all scattered in different directions. Sonic looked at Knuckles as the universe dissolved around him.

When Sonic came to, he was aboard a ship in out space, the ARK. A voice from nowhere spoke in a deep voice, "It is good to see you again blue hedgehog."


	8. The Battle at Oil Ocean

Tails appeared over a great ocean of oil. When gravity returned he promptly fell into the oil. Swimming to shore he then cleaned the oil off himself. Tails looked around; there was no one there but himself. Tails sighed and then flew up. He surveyed the scene carefully, how was he supposed to find the emerald? Then he spotted a gleam in the distance, could that be the Chaos Emerald? Tails flew towards it.

As Tails flew closer the gleam began to change. "What is that?" he asked himself, "is that thing coming at me?" Then all of a sudden the gleam enlarged into a ship, flying straight for him. Tails barely dodged the ship. He turned around to see the ship hovering there, facing him. It looked like a large spaceship of some kind. It had 3 rotating gun turrets, and all of the turrets pointed right at him. Bullets flew at Tails as he flew. Tails hit a button on his wristwatch. Then Tails landed and ducked behind a piece of machinery. For some reason then the bullets stopped.

Being curious Tails looked over the top of the machinery. Bullets ripped out and nearly hit his head. Quickly ducking Tails heard another sound, an airplane engine. Tails leapt out from behind the machine. He flew up towards the oncoming airplane, the

Cyclone. As the spacecraft turned to face the Cyclone Tails shot by it and landed in the pilots seat. He turned off the autopilot and turned to face the craft. The machine's guns continued to fire. Tails put the Cyclone into high speed and flew around the bullets. Then he unleashed his own Vulcan Cannon. This high-speed machine gun fired thousands of shots per second. He hit the ship dead on. Explosions followed and the ship's engines went out.

Tails watched as the ship descended and crashed into the oily ocean. The ship began to sink when its hatch jettisoned. The pilot was a large robot, in the shape of Eggman. The robot leapt onto a platform as the ship sunk. It pulled out a giant gun and fired at Tails. The beam nearly struck the Cyclone as Tails came around for another run. The Vulcan cannon let loose on the robot, but to no effect. As the Cyclone flew overhead the robot shoot again, and this time it hit!

The Cyclone's wing was destroyed, and the plane was on a collision course with the oil. Tails pulled at the control stick with all his might, and slowly the nose of the cyclone turned. At the last second it turned enough to make a crash landing go on the platform. When the Cyclone ground to a halt Tails breathed sigh of relief. "That was close," he said after it was all over. But he spoke to soon. The ground shook as the robot came closer. With a look of determination on his face Tails shouted the the robot, "You can't beat this bird that easily, Tornado Transformation!" Tails cried as he it one of the buttons.

The rear of the plane split in two and rotated under the body. Both the wing and the remains of the other wing collapsed into the body. The Cyclone walker stood up on its two new feet and turned to face the Eggman robot. "I'll show you how powerful my cyclone is!" Tails shouted as the Cyclone ran towards the robot. The robot fired at the Cyclone, but Tails was to good at maneuvering it. He dodged a beam as a gray box came out of the side of the Cyclone. "I'll show you," Tails shouted as he pressed a button, "Fire Rocket launcher!" A stream of small but powerful rockets erupted from the box. The robot managed to destroy most of the missiles with its gun, but there was to many for it to destroy. Missiles hit as explosions clouded the area.

The smoke cleared and Tails stopped the Cyclone dead. The robot had survived, damaged but survived. It lifted its gun again. Once again the Cyclone dodged. "You think your so tough, well take this! Power Beam fire!" Tails said to the robot as a panel on the front of the Cyclone opened. Out of it shoot the giant, rainbow colored power laser. It scored a direct hit. The robot exploded as a cracking sound was heard. Tails stopped the beam, but the cracking sound remained. Tails looked over the side.

Cracks were forming under the cyclone. Tails put the cyclone into motion, but as the first leg lifted the platform broke, sending the cyclone into the oil. Tails tried his controls despertly, but the oil had the cyclone. It started to sink. Tails tried with all his might to get the main jet engine to turn on, but the oil had clogged it up. As the oil rose on the side Tails tried everything to get the cyclone out, but to no avail. Just as the oil was about to enter the main cockpit Tails jumped out and flew up. The oil spilled into the cockpit as the Cyclone sank under the surface. Tails nearly cried as his ultimate achievement vanished.

Tails landed on the platform, looking at the spot where his plane had sunk. When he glanced up he saw the shine in the background. Tails flew up and went to investigate. As he did so, the planetary storm approached him from behind.


	9. The Icecap

A cold wind whipped over the landscape. Amy was shivering as she strolled the icy grounds of the Icecap. Her dress and boots offered little in the way of protection from the cold or the wind. The storm was here too, causing massive amounts of snow to fall. Amy looked around desperately for shelter, as the temperature continued to drop to well below freezing. The baron landscape showed no signs of shelter. There was nothing but icy plains as far as the eye could see. She couldn't see too far, but it wouldn't matter, the cold would soon claim her.

She stopped walking, ready to give up. Why did she have to be transported here, to this barren waste? She fell over and lay still. She lay on the ground, fully expecting to die. Then she noticed something, the ground was warm! Summing all her energy she stood up, and got out her pico pico hammer. In one final swing Amy hit the ground hard. There was a craking sound as she fell over and dropped the hammer. She felt the ground give way, but she couldn't see anymore. She fell into the blackness of a cavern below. Amy landed on a large rock. Her hammer fell onto some small rocks in front of the bolder she was on. The bolder started to slide down into the abyss, carrying Amy and the hammer with it. The last thing Amy knew was a sudden stop in the movement of the rock. Then she passed out.

Amy, much to her own surprise, came to in a warm chamber. Water was dripping on her as she slowly sat up. Her vision slowly returned to her as she sat on the boulder. A pool of water lay nearby. She got off the boulder and then slipped on the ice. Slowly Amy remembered she was in the icecap. Crawling carefully she got to the water. The taste of the water refrehed her. Now she looked around, she was in an underground cavern with a heat source. She saw the deep trail that the bolder had cut, and it let to a caved in opening.

Amy looked into a bigger pool on the far end of the chamber. The water in the pool was warm as an ocean. There seemed to by an ice incrusted hole on the lower wall. Going back to the bolder she retrieved her hammer. She then returned to and dived into the pool. She got to the bottom and hit the ice wall with all her might. The ice shattered revealing an opening. The water in the pool rushed into the tunnel that lay beyond. Helpless to do anything Amy went tumbling through the tunnel.

The water gushed out of the tunnel into a tall cavern, throwing Amy clear. Amy grabbed a large icecle on the ceiling to avoid falling into the black oblivian. "I'm in a fix now," she thought, "Soaking wet in a freezing enviroment. Just my luck." Amy then saw her pico pico hammer fall out of the hole, and fall down, down, and down. She lost sight of it as it fell towards the cavern floor. A full minute later she heard it hit the floor, wherever that was. The sound wave shook the icecle Amy was hanging on. Amy panicked as she heard a cracking sound. She tried to scramble up the iclecle, but the slick sides and her wet gloves prevented it. The iceicle broke off, send Amy and itself plugging into the blackness.

Darkness enveloped Amy as she fell, down into the abyss. She kept a hold of the iceicle, and somehow managed to stay on top. The icelce struck the flor on its side. Amy fell of the icle as she started to slide down the pit, its surface was slanted. The dry air had dried her out by the time she reached light. As she slid down the ice slide an erie sunlight started to penetrade the blackness. The soft glow grew to the point where she could see her surroundings. She was traveling very fast along the slide, along with several large rocks. Up ahead she saw a wall, and at this speed hitting would kill! Amy tried despertly to stop, but there was no grip on the slide of ice. She looked back at the wall and her imenet destrution, the she saw several rocks slideing up the wall. Amy realized the wall was a ramp, and up she went.

There was a sheet of ice on the top of the ramp. As Amy's speed grew she flew right through the ice, and back out into the snowstorm. Amy flew into the air, and landed with a thud on the snow. Painfully bruised she stood up. She was back in the barren waste, the full effect of the cold was hitting her again. Amy then heard whistling, and she turned around. Out of the hole popped her pico pico hammer. It span around fast in the air and then struck the ground near Amy, sticking out of the snow and ice.

Amy grabbed the handle and pulled with all her might. When the hammer came free she saw a familiar glow in the ice. Peering carefully into the ice she saw the green Chaos Emerald. Andrenilne surged through her as she started to pound at the ice, chipping it away bit by bit. Amy was a stubborn as she was determined, and continued to bore away at the ice. "Soon," she thought, "I'm going to get that Chaos Emerald." Shards of ice continued to fly as Amy kept breaking through.

The storm raged on, like a beast on the prowl.


	10. Metal Hill Madness

Manic came out of the transport beam, and landed on a hard, metal substance. A quick look around told him where he was, Metal Hill. Several years ago, Eggman had tried to Robotocize the whole planet, but it only turned this section of it to Metal. This was a no man's land, not a living thing in sight, except for Manic. There was a waterfall nearby, the spring of the river was out of Metal Hill. Manic walked on. The cold metal grass and flowers offered little to the eye, but no animal life was present.

Manic reached the base of a metal cliff. Manic grinned, "This should be fun," he said. Manic put his hands around the medalian he wore on his neck. A green light erupted from the jewel, and then a drumset appeared. Manic leapt onto the seat and started playing. The drumset let off powerful vibrations. The vibrations hit the metal cliff. Bolts and rivets came apart as the cliff collapsed on itself. Manic stopped playing and the drumset turned back into a medalian. Where a solid wall of metal had been a long and steep metal ramp now stood. "Shaken them down," Manic said as he climbed the long ramp.

At the top of the ramp Manic sat down, breathing heavily. He was out of shape, to much time had been spent on that hoverboard. "I need more exercise," he panted. As he sat there he looked around. A familiar gleam stood in the distance. "I may not be as fast as Sonic, but what harm is there in a run?" Manic thought to himself as he stood up. Always jealous of his brother's speed Manic began running towards the shining object. As he approached it he saw what lay ahead of him, a Chaos Emerald. This was just to easy. He ran up towards the emerald, then something fast got in the way. It passed in front of the emerald and and the emerald vanished. Manic stood shocked still for a few seconds, then he looked around. As he turned around something soft and fast hit him in the face.

Manic flew backwards, rolled several times on the ground, and stopped. He looked up. A two tailed fox was floating about a foot off the ground. Manic pulled himself to his feet. "Tails?" he asked. Then he saw something wrong, there was an antenna like structure coming out of the forehead. "You're not Tails" Manic shouted.

A muffled voice spoke, "Correct Manic, I am puppet Tails."

Manic yelled at the doll, "Give me back that emerald."

Puppet Tails replied, "If you want it your going to have to fight for it." With that the doll put the emerald inside its stuffing, and then charged at Manic with high speed. Manic didn't have enough time to dodge it. The force of the collision send Manic backwards again. Manic pulled himself to his feet again and though quickly, if I can't run fast or jump fast, I will have to think fast" Manic then noticed what lay behind him, the cliff he had climbed out mere moments ago. Puppet Tails charged again.

This time Manic was ready for it. He moved to the side as quickly as he could. Puppet Tails charged foreward, past Manic, and over the cliff. Manic grabbed hold of the doll's legs as the doll shot out into empty air. As Puppet Tails floated there, Manic hang on tight, trying to think of what to do next. Puppet Tails's tails came right down on him, throwing him off and to the ground far below. Manic fell towards the Metal Hill Forest, with Puppet Tails right behind him.

At the last second Manic grapped hold of a tree limb, saving himself from smashing into the ground. The strain on the sting holding his Medallian was to great, the string broke and his magic drum medalian continued of the trip to the Metal Surface of the ground. Manic swung onto the tree branch as Puppet Tails entered the forest. Being careful to stay hidden Manic climbed towards the ground. The metal tree trunk offered little to hold on to, but Manic used whatever he could. About ten feet from the ground he slipped. The thud of flesh on Metal echoed around. Puppet Tails popped in through the trees. "I got you now, so why don't you just give up" the doll shouted.

"Me, give up?" Manic shouted back. He grabbed the medalian and it transformed back into the drumset. Leaping into the seat Manic was ready for Puppet Tails. He hit one drum hard, and a bolt of energy shot out. It almost hit the doll, but Puppet Tails was to fast for it. The beam shot past Puppet Tails and started bouncing off the trees. Manic played all the drums, letting out the shock waves. The shock waves hit the doll, but the doll didn't fall. Manic looked extremely confused about what to do, nothing he had was working. Instead the shockwaves he produced had caused an avalanche of metal. Manic transformed the drums back intothe medalian and put it in his pocket. Puppet Tails charged again. As he charged Manic got an idea.

Manic grabbed a shard of Metal, and then he slid to the side. Puppet Tails turned and grabbed Manic. Puppet Tails started carrying the struggling Hedgehog skyward.

"It looks like your in trouble now," the doll said. Then a green burst of energy shot out of the forest, the energy bolt Manic had shot earlier. It shot up behind Puppet Tails. Puppet Tails couldn't maneuver fast enough while carring Manic. The beam stuck home, blowing off Puppet Tails's head. Both Manic and the body then plummeted to the ground.

Manic got on top of the stuffed body to shield him from the impact. The stuffed doll body made a soft cusion. When Manic regained his feet he got a shard of metal. "Now for that emerald" Manic said as he walked towards the body.

A flash of lightning in the sky indicated that the planetary storm had arrived.


	11. Highway Clash

Knuckles materialized right in the middle of a large highway. There was no cars on it however. Rain stung his eyes as a bolt of lightning tore across the sky. "If I'm going to put a stop to this we need to find all the emeralds." Knuckles spoke, then he turned around, "Heyyy, what's this?"

Bolts of lasers were flareing up in the distance. But the blasts were moving towards him. A bolt came right towards him. Knuckles had nerves of steel, and fists just as hard. He gave a punch that send the blast right back to whatever its launcher was. There was an explosion, that blast hit something. "Hmph, that will teach them." Knuckles chuckled. He turned around, and looked right into two police robots. "There he is, open fire," the mechanical voice said. Both of the robots raised their guns, and let loose laser blasts. Knuckles did a forewards somesault as the blast flew over his head.

"What's going on here?" Knuckles said as he voiced the obvious question. The answer he got was more lasers. Knuckles leapt to the side this time, the lasers missing once again. "Fine, have it your way."

Knuckles charged one of the robots. Both continued to fire, but they couldn't hit Knuckles. Knuckles got right in front of one and then let out one punch. The punch completely crushed the robot. The robot exploded in a dazzle of fire. Knuckles then turned to face the other robot. Knuckles dodged another laser bolt as he prepared to attack. Then a streak of lightning flew down from the storm and hit the robot, destroying it in its entirety. Knuckles put a hand in front of his face to shield it from the blast.

"Well, that's over." Then a new figured stepped into the light. "Its you!" Knuckles shouted. Then his own voice replied, "Yes it is." Knuckles looked into the darkness as Metal Knuckles Stepped out of it. Both of them raised their spiky fists, and Knuckles asked, "What are you doing here?"

Metal Knuckles had his reply, "I'm just collecting something. ('Stealing is more like it,' Knuckles muttered) And I bet it is what you want." Metal Knuckles revealed what was in his left hand, it was a Chaos Emerald. "So that is what your up to," Knuckles chuckled, "Well just enjoy it while you can, but I am going to be taking that emerald now."

"I don't think you will," Metal Knuckles said. He held up the emerald and got ready to attack. Then a bolt of lightning struck the emerald. The emerald glowed and then shot several beams of energy. Two beams severed the bridge they were standing on. Both sides of the bridge blew out, and they're section Knuckles and Metal Knuckles were standing on collapsed. They plummeted towards the ground far below.

The section broke apart, and both of them entered free fall. Above them the emerald fell just behind them. "Look what you've done! Ohhhh, I'll get you for this." Knuckles then let out two quick punches. Then Knuckles let out a quick dash punch. He flew fist first right into Metal Knuckles. Metal Knuckles then activated his jet and flew out of the way. While they fought each other the emerald fell past them and towards the ground below.

Knuckles lost sight of Metal Knuckles, but the rain blurred his vision. Next thing he knew he was being hit hard in the back with a punch from Metal Knuckles. Knuckles fell backwards, away from Metal Knuckles. Knuckles's voice was gruff now, "It my emerald and my way, so get out of down, so take this! Thunder Arrow!" A bolt of lightning flew down and hit Metal Knuckles. There was an electrifying flash as Metal Knuckles flashed in the light. The light faded and Metal Knuckles's eyes went dark. "That was easy enough." Knuckles said and he dived down toards the falling emerald.

Knuckles stopped diving and started to glide, slowing his desent. Knuckles landed on the wet, and dimly lit ground under the high bridge. Ruble fdrom the broken bridge section littered the ground. Finding the emerald in this mess would be a real challenge. Knuckles strolled along. Then he heard a whistleing sound. Starange, what could be making the whistling sound? There was nothing on the ground which could be making tha noise. Knuckle slooked up. His face went into one of shock. Knuckels lept backwards.

A red and fast moving obnject crashed into the ground net to him as Metal Knuckles just missed him with the drill claw. There was a large and deep hole formed on the impact. Metal Knuckles climbed out of the hole, "Think I'm gotten rid of that easily?" "I had hoped so," Knuickles replied. The fight was on. Knuckles let out two more quick punches followed by the dash punch. Metal Knuckles took the hit dead on, and went flying into the nearby bridge tower. Knuckles grabbed the giant piece of rubble next to him, it was ten times his size. Using his powerful arms Knuckles lifted tons of roadway above his head, "Hey Metal," he called. Metal Knuckles pulled his head out of the tower and turned around.

Knuckles's aim was true, and the giant piece of roadway he threw hit Metal Knuckles square in the face. Metal Knuckles was buried in between the piece of roadway and the tower. "That's the last I should see of him." Knuckles said, and he started to turn around. Then there was a large cracking sound as Metal Knuckles picked the debris up. Knuckles quickly faced his opponet again, "Don't you know when to give up?" Metal Knuckles threw the roadway at Knuckles this time. Knuckles avoided it with a punch, the roadway blew apart. "You're just going to have to learn the hard way." Metal Knuckles said, stepping foreward, "You could never beat me, not the Metal Knuckles." Then Metal Knuckles's right arm fell off. Grinning Knuckles said, "It looks like you are in much worse shape then you thought." Knuckles picked up another large piece of debris. Metal Knuckles stopped in his tracks, and raised his remaining arm. Knuckles threw the debris at Metal Knuckles. Metal Knuckles blocked it the same way Knuckles had, with a punch. The debris flew apart again, but this time Knuckles was gone. Metal Knuckles looked around, almost frantically.

There was a voice from above, "Good-bye." Knuckles came down on top of Metal Knuckles with a drill dive. Lightning flashed as Metal Knuckles exploded, leaving debris everywhere. Knuckles dusted himself off and went in search of the fallen emerald.

"This won't be easy," Knuckles said to himself. He started his search looking under large debris. Knuckles sighed, and the rain poured on and on.


	12. Onboard the Sky Fortress

Wind whipped up all around him. Ashura struggled to get his footing as the Sky Fortress moved. "What on Mobious is this doing here?" Ashura wondered. The Sky fortress was one of Eggman's inventions. Another strong gust of wind nearly blew him off his feet. Ashura looked around quickly, and then he saw the cause of his problem, one of the massive propellers was right behind him.

The wind blew harder, and harder. Ashura was slowly loosing his grip grip on the grating he had grabbed. Ashura thought fast. There was nothing he could do to stop from being blown away. One hand slipped off and his other one wasn't doing much better. Ashura tried frantically to get a grip with his other hand, but to no avail. Panic set in his mind as his other hand slipped and the wind blew him away.

Ashura was swept right over the edge of the Sky Fortress, and he began to fall down and down. He fell into the storm clouds below, as thunder and lightning flared he saw a dark object approaching from below. It grew bigger as it approached, from a tiny spot to a recognizable shape. Ahura recognized the shape as a hedgehog seen from above. But there was something wrong, the figure continued to grow in size. It grew bigger and bigger, and then it no longer was black. The color turned red as the figure continuedn to grow in size. Soon it was evident it was not falling like Ashura, but rather it was heading up towards the Sky Fortress.

"No time to be picky," Ashura said to himself. As Ashura fell next to the figure it he grabbed hold of its leg. His gloved hands met cold metal, this was a robot! Ashura hung on in terror, hoping this giant machine didn't notice him. Ahura looked up and saw the collasal head start to turn, towards him. The giant's glowing, red eyes met his own. Ashura felt movement and the leg went backwards. Ashura slid down to the foot as the leg began moving forward quickly. When the leg made a sudden stop Ashura was sent flying. Ashura flew up out of the clouds and fully expected to die. Ashura closed his eyes and waited for the end.

There was a thud of flesh hitting metal. Then there was a boom, followed by another, and yet another. Ashura slowly opened his eyes. He realized the booming was his heart. Ashura sat up and looked around. He had landed back on the Sky Fortress, and was in an area shielded by the wind. He breathed a sigh of relief, "Boy, I'm glad that's ove…" He looked out over the clouds, and saw a giant hand appearing. That robot was following him. Ashura looked about quickly, there was no cover.

The top of the head began to emerge. "Nothing for it," Ashura thought, "Its my only hope." Ashura made a fist with both hands. Then his hands vanished, along with the rest of him. Ashura had turned invisible.

Now unseen Ahura made his way to the hatch, and jumped inside, while the robot was still looking. Ashura looked back to try to see it better, but it had vanished. Staying invisable, Ahsura started running through the Sky Fortress. Then he found some small guard robots, tall and armored sentries. Ashura stopped and kept silent. The robots had just turned the corner and faced him. Even though he was invisable, he could still be seen on infra-red. The robots raised their guns and fired. Ashura dodged, and went visable, no point in remaining invisable. He charged down a passageway, the guards close in pursuit. Ashura picked up a wrentch that was lying on the floor and threw it at some controls as he ran through a doorway. The door slammed shut, and there was a gratifiying thud as the guard robots smashed into it. "Heh, hard heads," Ahsura muttered, "hope that hurt."

Ashura entered a large chamber. The Chaos Emerald was in glass chamber on the far end. Ashura ran foreward only to be blocked suddenly by a forcefield. The forcefield glowed yellow, and another one formed behind him. Ashura was trapped, and there was no way out. Ashura looked around, but his prision was secure. His metal self stepped from around the corner. Metal Ashura looked at him and pushed a button, saying "You have had it. You won't foil the master plan."

The fields started closing in on Ashura. The field was about six feet across now. With nothing better to do Ashura jumped up into the air ("I hope this work" he said). He span into a ball and went straight for the forcefield. There was a red flare on the field where he hit, but the field held firm. However he was having an effect. The stress he was causing was overloading the relays in the floor. The consol next to Metal Ashura exploded, taking him with it. The emerald was knocked onto the floor, where the electric lightshow was taking place.

Ashura stopped and stared at the emerald, the fields now three feet apart. Some of the electricity hit the emerald, and it shot the power back out in all directions. The whole floor collapsed and Ashura went tumbling down, towards the ground far below. Debris and the emerald accompanied him. Ashura looked up and saw the damaged sky fortress coming apart. As it collpassed he saw the giant form emerging from it. Then Ashura saw the emerald, and he tried to grab it.

MORE TO COME

- 2 -


End file.
